Progreso Lakes yard, 11/29/19

Yesterday Thanksgiving was cool and good for birds but not so much for butterflies.  But the wind shifted around to the south today and though there was not a lot of sun, butterflies were on the wing.  This Cyna Blue, normally a spring time butterfly, was only the second ever for our yard.  Visiting butterfly watchers were happy to see it as it was a lifer for some.  I have a little of it's host plant, Snake Herb, but this female was ovipositing on Ruellia which is also an acanthus.

While trying to locate the Cyna Blue which would occasionally disappear, I found this surprise Boisduval's Yellow.  Normally you have to travel to Resaca de la Palma or Sabal Palm in Cameron County to see the Mexican pierid.  I thought it might take a while to get one if ever in our yard, butterfly #116.

Here's another Mexican Yellow.  It looks a lot like the Boisduval's but is mostly off white above while the Boisduval's is bright yellow.

Tomorrow is scheduled to be hot and windy ahead of a front so stay tuned.

Yard Butterfly #112 at Progreso Lakes, 1/8/19

I was doing a little birding and yard work today in our Progreso Lakes yard.  There was a little action on our flame vine while I was working in our cactus garden but nothing major.  I made a few sweeps of our brushy native patch and saw a Pixie and some Queens and a little pale blue that I passed off as a Cassius Blue.  After lunch I checked our garden again and saw the little blue and decided to photograph it.  What a surprise when I saw it was a Cyna Blue!  It was bigger than normal and I wonder if it's a female.  Hope it finds my little snake herb or some of our tube tongue.

Back at the flame vine there was a sweet Guava Skipper.  I see these a couple of times per week.

Much less common was this Dorantes Longtail.

It took a while before I could get a shot of this White-striped Longtail.  Finally it rested on the palm stump.

Still a few Red-bordered Pixies around.

We would make a big deal about Queens if they weren't so common.

National Butterfly Center, 4/16/17

Spent a couple of hours this afternoon at the National Butterfly Center while Honey was shopping.  The best I could find in the gardens up front was this Purple-washed Skipper showing its special spot.

Cyna Blues are still holding on.  They tend to disappear as the summer heats up.

Nothing else too noteworthy up front other than the Soldiers are back.

Down south in the old gardens not much was going on.  I found a nice Clytie Ministreak in the Conservatory.

Then I decided it was time to brave the mosquitoes and venture down into the "gully" to try one more time for Gilbert's Flasher.  they had not been reported in a while but you never know.  Well I didn't find one but this Pearly-gray Hairstreak was a nice surprise substitute.

Then I ran into Mike Rickard and it did not take him long to find me a nice butterfly.  A Clench's Green streak was nectaring in the orchid tree which I had checked minutes earlier.  It was nice to gt a shot of the brown frons.  The similar Tropical Greenstreak has a green forehead.

Not too bad for a couple of hours to kill.

National Butterfly Center, 3/16/17

I spent the morning birding in our yard at Progreso Lakes but wasn't seeing too much so I decided to take advantage of the wind and sunshine and run over to the National Butterfly Center.  I got over there a little after noon and it was really slow.  But I kept looking, hoping the wind might blow in something different, and was rewarded in the Conservatory with this Statira Sulphur.  A few are seen each year but not by me so I was happy to get one after not seeing one since 2013.

Nearby was this Double-dotted Skipper.

And a Long-tailed Skipper.

And this worn Clytie Ministreak.

Just outside, feeding on the Turnera, was this Mexican Fritillary caterpillar.

A little later I made a run through the "gulley" hoping to find the Gilbert's Flasher which had been seen several times over the past couple of weeks.  Behind the bird feeding station a large skipper landed next to me and perched under a leaf.  It wasn't the Gilbert's Flasher but instead was a very worn Gold-spotted Aguna.  Not what I was hoping for but I'll take it. 

This tailless White-striped Longtail is trying to pass itself off as a Gold-spotted Aguna.  It had me going for a minute but it's got too many spots..

It's a good spring for Cyna Blues.

A ratty Banded Peacock.

Quite a few of the tropical metalmarks, like this Red-bordered Pixie, prefer to hide under a leaf.

Another Double-dotted Skipper has more than it's fair share of dots.  I wish it was something rare but I think not.

This Tropical Leafwing, ovipositing on a Cortez Croton, was my only one for the day.

While I was birding in our yard in Progreso Lakes this morning, I saw several Orange-barred Sulphurs.  I see them almost daily but it's tough getting one to sit for a portrait.

National Butterfly Center 12/13/16

With the recent move to our new house, I've had little time to get out and enjoy what is proving to be an outstanding fall butterfly season.  But with the weather forecaster predicting a sunny day with temperatures in the 80's I thought this would be a good day to get out.  Well the weatherman was wrong, as he has been often lately, and it was mostly cloudy and in the 70's.   Still the sun poked out a few times and it still turned out to be a great day.  Leading the way among the 71 species today were three Mexican Silverspots.

This striking Band-celled Sister really gave up some nice shots.

The four Mexican Yellows all had a rusty cast to the underside of the hindwing.  I guess this is a cold season characteristic.

After being hard to find during the past few winters, brushfoots were out in good numbers including Zebra and Julia Heliconians.

And Crimson Patch.

Curve-winged Metalmarks have been easier to find this fall than in the past.

This Cyna Blue was a surprise.  We usually see them in spring.  Not much of a shot.

Here's the obligatory Mexican Bluewing.

And a sharp Dusky-blue Groundstreak to finish things off.

• Pipevine Swallowtail 3
• Checkered White 6
• Great Southern White 1
• Orange Sulphur 1
• Southern Dogface 3
• Cloudless Sulphur 3
• Large Orange Sulphur 4
• Lyside Sulphur 6
• Mexican Yellow 4
• Tailed Orange 1
• Little Yellow 15
• Mimosa Yellow 3
• Dainty Sulphur 2
• Great Purple Hairstreak 1
• Gray Hairstreak 4
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 4
• Dusky-blue Groundstreak 10
• Western Pygmy-Blue 2
• Cassius Blue 1
• Cyna Blue 1
• Ceraunus Blue 8
• Reakirt's Blue 4
• Fatal Metalmark 1
• Red-bordered Metalmark 1
• Red-bordered Pixie 10
• Curve-winged Metalmark 1
• American Snout 100
• Gulf Fritillary 8
• Mexican Silverspot 3
• Julia Heliconian 5
• Zebra Heliconian 8
• Mexican Fritillary 2
• Bordered Patch 4
• Crimson Patch 8
• Texan Crescent 8
• Pale-banded Crescent 6
• Vesta Crescent 3
• Phaon Crescent 40
• Pearl Crescent 2
• Question Mark 1
• Red Admiral 10
• Common Buckeye 4
• White Peacock 15
• Band-celled Sister 1
• Mexican Bluewing 5
• Common Mestra 20
• Tropical Leafwing 2
• Empress Leilia 1
• Tawny Emperor 3
• Carolina Satyr 2
• Monarch 10
• Queen 300
• Soldier 30
• Dorantes Longtail 1
• Brown Longtail 10
• Glazed Pellicia 1
• White-patched Skipper 1
• White Checkered-Skipper 10
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper 3
• Laviana White-Skipper 6
• Turk's-cap White-Skipper 1
• Fawn-spotted Skipper 1
• Clouded Skipper 25
• Southern Skipperling 3
• Fiery Skipper 8
• Whirlabout 1
• Southern Broken-Dash 2
• Sachem 1
• Common Mellana 3
• Eufala Skipper 5
• Ocola Skipper 2

Banded Patch at NBC, 4/8/16

A couple of days ago Chris Balboni found a Banded Patch at the National Butterfly Center and I was fortunate to refind it today.  It's been quite a few years since one has been seen in the Valley and it was a new one for me.

Nearby was my first Crimson Patch of the year.

A few Theona Checkerspots were in the front gardens.

The Double-dotted Skippers had not been reported for a few weeks but I found a worn one today.

Cyna Blues were in several different snake herb patches.

Here's an uncommon Hackberry Emperor.

I picked out a Mimosa Yellow among the many Little Yellows.

Last bug of the day was this bright White-patched Skipper.

Here's today's list of 57 species.

• Black Swallowtail 4
• Western Tiger Swallowtail 2
• Checkered White 10
• Southern Dogface 2
• Large Orange Sulphur 4
• Lyside Sulphur 20
• Little Yellow 6
• Mimosa Yellow 1
• Dainty Sulphur 6
• Great Purple Hairstreak 1
• Gray Hairstreak 3
• Mallow Scrub-Hairstreak 8
• Lantana Scrub-Hairstreak 1
• Cyna Blue 5
• Ceraunus Blue 2
• Reakirt's Blue 12
• Fatal Metalmark 1
• Red-bordered Metalmark 1
• American Snout 1
• Theona Checkerspot 2
• Bordered Patch 8
• Banded Patch 1
• Crimson Patch 1
• Elada Crescent 4
• Texan Crescent 5
• Vesta Crescent 4
• Phaon Crescent 25
• Pearl Crescent 1
• American Lady 1
• Red Admiral 4
• White Peacock 1
• Mexican Bluewing 1
• Hackberry Emperor 1
• Tawny Emperor 15
• Monarch 5
• Queen 75
• White-striped Longtail 1
• Brown Longtail 4
• Coyote Cloudywing 2
• Funereal Duskywing 1
• White Checkered-Skipper 10
• Tropical Checkered-Skipper25
• Laviana White-Skipper 6
• Turk's-cap White-Skipper 2
• Common Sootywing 2
• Julia's Skipper 5
• Fawn-spotted Skipper 2
• Clouded Skipper 15
• Double-dotted Skipper 1
• Southern Skipperling 6
• Fiery Skipper 6
• Whirlabout 2
• Southern Broken-Dash 10
• Sachem 1
• Common Mellana 1
• Celia's Roadside-Skipper 25
• Eufala Skipper 5